How to Increase Employee Engagement

Why is it important to increase employee engagement?

Engaged employees bring added value, through their determination, proactive support, relatively high productivity, and quality awareness. 

Also, they are less likely to call in sick, engaged employees exhibit positive behavior within organizations, are more likely to refer positively to the company to contacts, and are more likely to embrace the organization's vision and goals (both professionally and personally).

On top of this, engaged employees are much less likely to leave their current position. In light of the increasingly competitive nature of organizations, employee engagement is increasingly playing a key role in retaining top talent.

But… How to Increase Employee Engagement

For this, three aspects must be worked on, which include: clear objectives of the company, obtaining energy from work, feeling comfortable with the company and a challenging work environment.

Here we tell you the best way to apply these aspects in your company to increase the commitment of your employees.

1. Clear company objectives as a way to increase employee commitment

Clarity about intended goals helps employees make better decisions at work. Employees know what the collective goal is and can tailor their own contribution to it. 

Knowing the company's goals helps employees cooperate more efficiently with each other and also reduces time and resources wasted on issues that have nothing to do with the big picture.

How can you create clear business goals?

• Think about what can be the positive contribution of your organization to society and include it in the formulation of the organizational objective. Including how your business benefits society helps make goals more appealing to employees.
• Make sure top management is clear about the goals and communicates them regularly both internally and externally. 
• Allow each team to interpret the goals of the organization to form their own goals. This will make everything more specific and allow everyone to line up with each other.
• Communicate regularly about any progress and whether or not goals are being met, doing so keeps the process of achieving goals more streamlined and helps motivate employees.

2. Get energy from work

Employees who derive energy from their work feel good about themselves and enjoy doing their work, are also more productive, work better in teams and are willing to develop within the company.

How can you help employees get energy from their work?

• Ensures a good match between employees and their work. If it turns out that there is a mismatch, assistance and/or training should be offered to bridge the gap. In the case of long-term mismatches, every effort should be made to help employees find a more suitable job
• Pay attention to employee development, limited jobs will decrease the energy employees get from their work. Therefore, it is vital that employees' jobs evolve, for example by expanding the scope of work.
• Discuss the biggest frustrations employees encounter at work and challenge them to come up with solutions. Frustrations consume energy and, once eliminated, increase both employee satisfaction and energy.
• Make sure the atmosphere in the workplace is good, establish rules of coexistence at work and invest in team building

3. Feeling comfortable as a way to increase employee commitment

When employees feel that they fit in well with an organization, they generate a bond and commitment to the organization. If employees feel at home, they put more effort into the organization and tend to stay with the organization for a longer period of time.

How to help employees feel included?

• Make sure employees have a clear corporate identity.
• Create shared experiences among employees, as they reinforce the feeling of belonging and adaptation. Some of the most effective activities are one-on-one meetings as well as company-wide events.
• Involve employees in company-wide decisions, this helps ensure support for decisions as well as clarity about employee thoughts and feelings.
• Consider encouraging management to show their commitment to their employees, by showing regular interest and genuine appreciation, employees are more likely to feel like they fit in.

4. Challenging work environment

In general, employees need variety and a challenge at work. When an employee feels challenged at work, it increases their intrinsic motivation, joy at work, and sense of accomplishment. 

In general, employees who face challenges tend to perform better and, as a result, are more inclined to stay with their organization.

How to create a challenging work environment?

• Provide feedback regularly, constructive feedback on opportunities for improvement can be very challenging, but don't forget the positives!
• Explicitly discuss in appraisal or performance interviews whether the job is still challenging enough. Also, discuss what makes someone's job challenging and how best to keep it that way.
• Make sure employees can see other departments from time to time, often jobs left undone in one department can be seen as a welcome challenge to another.